"Inner peace!" - Fans on Twitter gush as Rahul Tripathi gets maiden India call-up for Ireland T20Is
Cricket Twitter gushed with excitement as the BCCI handed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) wicketkeeper-batter Rahul Tripathi his maiden international call-up for India's two-match T20I tour of Ireland, which will begin on June 26.
Tripathi scored a personal-best of 413 runs in the recently concluded IPL 2022 in 14 matches at an average of 37.55. His strike rate of 158.24 was among the best for top-order batters and 15th overall. On more occasions than one, he carried the SRH lineup to victories with jaw-dropping counter-attacks.
These also made him a fan favorite, even prompting calls for him when the team for the ongoing five-T20I series against South Africa was announced.
Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer have been rested from the squad as they look to prepare for the long-pending Test match against England that'll start soon after the two T20Is.
Tripathi, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson, and Mumbai Indians star Suryakumar Yadav have been added in their place, while Hardik Pandya has been chosen as captain.
Fans on Twitter were "very, very happy" for Tripathi and expressed their love with congratulatory messages and memes.
Here are the best reactions:
#Risers in the #MenInBlue squad, things we love to see 🧡
First #TeamIndia call-up for @tripathirahul52 🙌
Vice captain, the Swing King @BhuviOfficial 💪
The #JammuExpress 🔥
3️⃣ #Risers in the #MenInBlue squad, things we love to see 🧡
#OrangeArmy twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Rahul Tripathi 🤝 #TeamIndia
That's it. That's the tweet.
#IREvIND https://t.co/6BnqqInIjm
Make it count 
🏻Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi 🇮🇳 Make it count 👍🏻👍🏻
WE NEED YOU 🤝🏻🤝🏻
Finally..finally!! ❤️❤️ Hard Work always pays off. 🙌🙌
Congratulations @tripathirahul52 & @IamSanjuSamson 🙌❤️
#India #CricketTwitter #Cricket #rahultripathi #SanjuSamson
Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson finally get chance in team india squad Ireland t20 match. #SanjuSamson #rahultripathi https://t.co/VnS6KQ2ZWH
Rahul Tripathi - Maiden call-up to Don Blues✅
Well Deserved @tripathirahul52 🙌Which We all are waiting for 🥳🥳 Make it Count King 🔥
#SRH | #OrangeArmy𓅃 | #OrangeArmy #IPL2022 https://t.co/j9zWcXcrT2
Seen Tripathi as the underrated KKR player, winning games or impactful knocks match after match. Went unnoticed most of the time the last few years. His knocks against KKR this year brought bigger limelight on him.
Rahul Tripathi Get The Maiden Call For Blue Jersey 💙
@rahultripathi
https://t.co/AgtVfLgYE1
So good to see Rahul Tripathi’s name in the Indian squad…well deserved👏👏👏… #CricketTwitter
Rahul Tripathi. The name that so desperately deserved to be there is here at last. So so happy! #IREvIND twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Rahul Tripathi in the squad. Inner peace. Congo Man! twitter.com/BCCI/status/15… https://t.co/U13kwsr27X
@BCCI Rahul Tripathi https://t.co/dFk7NfEkIS
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi in the Ireland T20 series squad. https://t.co/VOeuBFWLyT
So happy to see Rahul Tripathi’s name in the Indian team. Congratulations buddy.
Was giving consistent performance in IPL for years and finally today getting a call for team India. It must be the best day for Rahul tripathi. Wishing him all his good luck against Ireland ! https://t.co/p4yoP5IqRw
Now this looks a pretty good squad...especially stoked to see Tripathi Ji ka ladka aka #RahulTripathi finally getting that India call-up he so rightly deserves & also nice to see #SanjuSamson returning to the side! Hope they do well! #TeamIndia twitter.com/bcci/status/15…
RAHUL TRIPATHI IN THE INDIAN TEAM!!!!!
SO WELL DESERVED. SO SO SO HAPPY!
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Aah, Rahul Tripathi. This makes me very, very happy. twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Good to see Sanju & Rahul Tripathi in the radar of selectors. twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Pleased for Rahul Tripathi that he has got an opportunity.
Very happy for Rahul Tripathi to finally make his way into the national squad, guy deserves it for his contribution over the last few years. Also good to see Samson back in the team, hope it all goes well this time. Excited for this series. twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Rahul Tripathi has got his maiden India call up for the Ireland series 🥳
Deserved it totally! 🙌 https://t.co/PKCQPZaG1N
It's your time to SHINE 🌟
Happy for Rahul Tripathi 💙🔥
#TeamIndia twitter.com/BCCI/status/15… https://t.co/hsmGuxmrLB
India's squad for the Ireland tour: Hardik Pandya (C), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (VC), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.
Who will Rahul Tripathi replace in India's first 11?
Both Shreyas and Pant have started all three games against South Africa so far and two of the three players should come in directly. Considering that Suryakumar is returning from an injury and is most likely to play in the 2022 T20 World Cup, he'll almost certainly get the first preference.
If the team prefers Samson for the second spot, Tripathi might come in for opener Ishan Kishan, who has been in good form and has got enough games under his belt to retain his spot as the backup opener for the World Cup.
Tripathi and Samson, as well as Dinesh Karthik, can substitute Pant as the wicketkeeper for the series.